Tri time in two weeks!

In two weeks I will RACE in my first triathlon of the season. I am training hard and trying to stay focused each day on what I need to do. Just FOCUS on each day and not think about all the challenges ahead…. like in the pool the other day when I was doing a 500 yard time trial… instead of focusing on swimming hard for those 500 yards I started thinking about how I was going to swim down the Savannah River in SEPTEMBER!! Again, reminding myself to stop the madness.

I have been working hard at running faster and it paid off on Saturday. The day started off cold and wet – a bit of rain mixed with snow. I was running it regardless and so were my friends. Several of us piled in the cars and headed south. As always, it is fun hanging out at the start talking to other runners. We were all huddled under awnings and anywhere dry and warm that we could find. We were all wearing ourTryon Running Club shirts and got some conversations started about our club and race.

The race started in typical fashion – a slow walk/shuffle through the crowd for the first few minutes. Once it started thinning out we were able to pick up the pace. The first couple of miles are gently downhill. Free speed. Scarlette and I were running together at a nice pace. When the first water stop came I was ready for some fluid, but didn’t want to stop and walk and waste the speed we were running. I didn’t tell her I was going to keep going🙂 I wasn’t trying to ditch her… promise!

The next couple of miles were through a narrow park trail with lots of twists and turns and small little uphills. It was hard to maintain pace and get around people. Once we were finally back on the road it was nice, but then the uphills started.

We were settled back into a good pace and started heading up a gradual hill. Out of no where our friend Kathryn came up behind us. We thought we dropped her long ago… but she was stalking us…. waiting to attack. Naturally we all had to pick up the pace. The last mile was uphill and I had to focus and push through. My heart rate was pretty high and breathing was heavy.

There was talk of how fun it was to finish together. All crossing together in our fancy club shirts. Nice photo. I had to remind myself that I wanted to RACE. We can’t just jog across the line. We have to finish strong. Closer to the finish we were going to sprint. I had a plan.

My plan abruptly changed when I saw John at the corner. He had already finished the race and waiting for me. But, he wasn’t just going to wave and cheer…. he was there to push me hard. He came out on the course and told me to pick up the pace. Harder. Push it. I was running so fast. I could barely breathe and it was still a quarter-mile to the finish. I planned on sprinting LATER,,,

I didn’t think I could hold the pace. He was running with me and told me they were coming. I needed to beat my friends. This was totally out of my comfort zone mentally and physically. Then he was picking out other people for me to over take. I didn’t have much more in me but I tried.

I finally crossed the line in 1:04:31. Scarlette one second behind and Kathryn one second behind her. It was amazing and fun. It turns out that a bit of friendly competition is good for all of us